Those Given Wings
by xxxRavensClawxxx
Summary: A sequel to Too Late. Set in the future.


**Epilogue of Too Late. Really short.**

A knock sounded outside Rainbow Dash's office.

"Come in!" she called. As the CEO and head foremare of the Cloudsdale Weather Department, she was kept cooped up in the Town Hall from sunrise to sunset. She rarely was allowed outside on the site anymore.

Twilight Sparkle walked in. Her lavender coat showed sign of age, but surprisingly little for a 48 year old unicorn. Dash kicked a chair out for her friend.

"Afternoon, Ms. Mayor. What brings you to my dusty corner of the Town Hall?" She said. Twilight chuckled.

"A few matters, Ms. Dash. Oh, sorry. Don't want to make you feel _old _or anything."

"Stop it, Twilight! You'll make my back go out!" The old friends giggled for a while. Then Twilight sat down.

"I just got news from the others."

"Good. How are they all?" Dash asked, really interested in her friends' affairs.

"Well, Fluttershy's animal hospital is booming with business. Rarity's latest fashion season is almost sold out already, and Applejack and Big Macintosh are doing fine with what the papers in Manehattan call 'The Greatest Apple Business in the History of Equestria!' Pinkie is almost back in control of Sugarcube Corner, her nervous twitches have reverted back to plain old warnings rather than impulses that lead to actions."

This was all good news to Rainbow Dash. Especially about Pinkie Pie, who was the closest thing to a best friend she had. Thankfully, she wasn't in an asylum. Then she pushed the paper she had been writing on to the side.

"Are they coming?" She asked quietly. Twilight nodded.

"The memorial is in progress. Everyone said they wouldn't miss this for anything. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle are coming too, their own business' are little compared to this." Dash sighed, and Twilight looked at her with a caring gaze.

"You miss her, don't you?"

"Yes. I miss her with all my heart." Dash remembered the fall, and Scootaloo's death. She had set speed records after she had joined the Wonderbolts, which just made her feel worse that the one time she hadn't been fast enough had resulted in her death. She felt ashamed to have a bolt of lightning as her Cutie Mark.

"Twilight, Scootaloo wasn't just my adopted sister. She was the only family I had ever since my parents were killed and my sister left. She was a mix of a sister and a daughter to me, and I let her die." Twilight moved to comfort her friend who had begun to cry again.

"It's okay, Dash…"

"NO IT'S NOT!" Dash screamed, tears really flowing from her eyes and forming small pools on her desk. She wiped them away, and took a few deep breaths.

"I failed, Twilight. I failed miserably, and that fact never has eluded me. I'm forever a failure."

"No, you aren't." The mayor interrupted. "You gave her happiness. She didn't feel like an orphan anymore. She felt loved again, all thanks to you." She hugged her friend, not minding her crystal tears roll onto her back.

"Twilight, there is an old saying among the pegasi. 'Those given wings were meant to fly.' That's why Fluttershy and I and all the other pegasi at the funeral were so struck by grief. Not only did she die before she gained a purpose in life by getting her Cutie Mark, but she never even learned to fly. She died before she experienced what being a pegasus was."

Twilight was struck by a greater wave of sadness then when she actually found that Scootaloo had died. Tears fell from her eyes in realization about why Rainbow Dash had regretted being too late to save the filly.

"Oh, Rainbow Dash…"

"No," Dash said bravely, wiping tears from her eyes. "I will never get over her death, but it is easier to bear it. And as I get older, I realize that every day brings me closer to rejoining not only Scootaloo, but my family as well. The only one I miss more than Scootaloo is my mother…" she trailed off, looking at a hat behind Twilight. The unicorn turned and looked at the article of clothing she had seen so many times, yet never understood.

To the eyes of most, it was just a tattered and faded pink hat, with a wide brim and a feather in the band. Only, Twilight finally understood why Dash had kept it for so long. It was the only reminder of her mother.

"Dash, I never realized you had so much sadness in your life."

"Nopony does. To everyone else, I'm nothing but a tough pegasus who was brought down from flying high to working in an office. Only you know my real life." Twilight nodded.

"Tell me, Dash. Who is your sister anyway?" Dash stiffened, and Twilight instantly regretted it as more tears began to flow.

"You know what? You don't have to answer now."

"No, no, Twi. I might as well answer." She settled in to tell her tale of her long lost sister.

"You see, I lived with my parents Sun Rider and Moonshine. My sister was named Cloud Flasher, and she was actually an alicorn, even though she wasn't royalty. She was strong, beautiful, and very caring to me.

"After my father died, she helped take care of me when mom wasn't around. Then, one day, she and mom had a fight about something I couldn't understand at the time. They yelled for a few minutes, then Cloud Flasher grabbed her bags and left. I never saw her again. Mom died a few weeks later, and I never had parents or siblings again. Until Scootaloo."

Twilight felt so much sorrow, she was pretty sure her heart would collapse under so much depression. In a way, she wished it would.

"Now I get why Scootaloo was so important to you." Twilight concluded. "She was the closest thing to a sister you had had in years."

Dash nodded sadly, her eyes spent of all her tears. Even though she felt like crying again, she couldn't, making it even harder to bear the thought of gathering to remember Scootie's death. Twilight got up.

"I'm sorry I stayed so long, I just wanted to say that everyone will come for the memorial. We still on for meeting at Sugarcube Corner tonight? Pinkie Pie will be back in charge by then."

"I wouldn't miss a snack with a few friends ever. See you then."

Twilight nodded and turned to leave. Before she closed the door, she heard Rainbow Dash call her name.

"Twi?"

"Yeah?" The lavender unicorn said as she turned back to face her friend.

"Thanks. I haven't gotten that off my chest for years, and I'm glad to be rid of it." Twilight Sparkle nodded and turned to shut the door on her friend, who stared blankly at the door for a few more minutes before shaking it off and getting back to work.

Before exiting the office to file the forms and papers, she looked at the pictures on her walls. One of a much younger version of herself and a white alicorn with a black mane that had a streak of yellow on it, one of a cyan pegasus with a darker gray pegasus, and another of her with an orange filly with a purple mane.

"I miss you guys. I'll see you again someday." She whispered, then closed the door.

"_I miss you guys." _A voice said in the consciousness of Scootaloo as she rested in the glowing realm of the afterlife. She smiled.

"I miss you too, big sis."

**Done with that! Oh my gosh, I have a playlist on my phone titled "Sad Music for Sad Writing" that I listen to over and over again while writing things like this. I should probably get out of this feeling of writing sad stories, but it feels so good for some reason. Anyway, this future universe is what some of my stories will take place in. I will write another story about Rainbow Dash and her death, but that is later. In the words of Applejack:**

"**See y'all round sometime!"**


End file.
